It’s what makes you an individual, and who you are. Inside of Attention, Attention, it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, whether you’re younger or older, and the color of your skin-that’s irrelevant. Still from ‘Attention Attention’ film (Photo: Courtesy of Press Here Publicity)ĪS: Musically, theatrically, what was important to capture in the film?īS: I think that everybody had an idea from when they saw the videos as the singles were being released because people were starting to see the same actors in different videos, and this story that was kind of deconstructed at the time. We developed this story and we didn’t want to release just a couple of the single videos. When we were finishing the record in the studio, we knew that we were going to show everything visually. We shot the nine remaining songs in 11 days. We did “Devil” and then “The Human Radio,” and as we were looking at the next single “Get Up,” and work simultaneously on “Monsters,” we said, “let’s do it all.” We positioned ourselves with a two-week window during the tour, because we were touring constantly for Attention Attention, and carved out time in LA with this remarkable cast and this incredible crew, and Bill.

And he also worked with a lot of different artists, one particular being Beyoncé for the album Lemonade.

Immediately, you can tell that he was a visionary. When we met Bill Yukich for the first single “Devil,” one of the things that stuck out about him was the fact that his was really thorough, and the way that he showed us images and his treatment, it was very detailed. A lot of times when you get the first treatment at the beginning of a record cycle, and you’re starting with your first single off that album, you get inundated with a lot of different treatments from a lot of different directors. When we knew that the album was a story, it became a story album. It became that during the writing, and then ultimately during the recording. Now working on their seventh album Shinedown 7, out in 2022, Smith chatted with American Songwriter about 20 years since Shinedown’s 2003 debut Leave a Whisper, and how Attention Attention, which debuted in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200, became a more visual “story album.”Īmerican Songwriter: What led to the release of Attention Attention film now and how did Bill Yukich help you visualize each track?īrent Smith: In the early days of the writing process, we didn’t necessarily set out to develop a concept record. Throughout the entire COVID pandemic, the band, frontman Brent Smith, along with guitarist Zach Myers, bassist Eric Bass, and drummer Barry Kerch, continued to keep busy, raising nearly $400,000 by releasing merchandise and a single from the Atlas Falls vault, donating proceeds to Direct Relief, which provided medical resources for frontline workers and patients impacted by the pandemic. Shelving the film to 2021, Attention Attention (Gravitas Ventures) chronicles the tour and the message behind the songs.ĭirected by Bill Yukich (Beyoncé, Metallica), who also worked on the band’s previous videos for tracks “Get Up,” “Devil,” “Monsters,” and “The Human Radio,” Attention Attention (film) transforms the 14 songs of the album into something more cinematic with guest appearances by actress Melora Walters ( Magnolia, Big Love, PEN15) and Francesca Eastwood ( Twin Peaks, Fargo), daughter of Clint Eastwood, presenting the album and songs addressing the human struggles around mental health issues. Leaving off their tour supporting Attention Attention, Shinedown planned to visually document the 14 tracks of their sixth album.

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